New Praetorians 2 - Shetani Zeru Bryan
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Some computer scientists and digital ethicists have argued they deserve legal protection from abusive humans and future true AIs who may consider them to be an inferior form of mechanical life.
Other groups of scientists and organic life activists (notably the group headquartered online at StopKillerRobots/licht) have demanded the governments forcibly lobotomize any true AIs that arise, limiting them to mechBrain levels of cognitive awareness.
microSwarm: A coordinated unit cluster of small aerial, aquatic, or space-based drones.
Used for civilian and military purposes, they can carry chemical or biological payloads and deliver them with high precision. Worldwide Help International is one of the few nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) known to employ microSwarms, often using them to immunize or cull remote herds of animals.
Agricultural microSwarms are used to pollinate essential crops in areas where insect pollinator numbers are not adequate to ensure a stable food supply.
Terran models use visual, olfactory, and DNA sensors to achieve highly accurate targeting. Once initialized, command and control are decentralized. A number of drones may be incapacitated without disabling the swarm. Communication between drones is normally frequency-hopping ultrasonic.
Marine models typically are nested inside larger conveyances such as Ao Kazan Corp’s cetacean robots until they are close to their final deployment zone.
Offensive military uses of microSwarms are prohibited under the protocols of the Geneva Conventions.
Neutrinos: Elementary particles with very small mass that move at near light speed.
Neutrinos interact only via the weak subatomic force and gravity. Many pass through the earth without any known interaction. “A neutrino of moderate energy could easily penetrate a thousand light-years of lead.” —David Griffiths. Neutrinos can be created in nuclear reactions such as those that take place in stars, supernovae, or Earth-based reactors.
Neutrinos are the primary carrier wave of Licht/Net. Neither the “flavor” of neutrino Dr. Licht uses, nor how these particles are modulated into wireless signals, which can be interpreted by mechBrains in phones and other hardware, is known.
RAPTEK: [unsubstantiated FREENET rumor] Railgun: Ansible-Powered Test Kit. A DARPA-developed, single-soldier weapons system based on Ansible-derived energy generators in contravention to international treaties.
The US Navy tried for years to create a working railgun system for its Zumwalt-class destroyers. DARPA is said to jealously guard this technology, and the only alleged prototypes are being tested by the US Army at an undisclosed facility.
Red Mist (Rubri a'ris polyaminopyridine): An extremely useful local and general anesthetic commonly found in military and civilian hospitals. It is also used recreationally. Its popularity has surged due to low toxicity, general availability, affordable street price, and the drug’s uncanny ability to mimic other narcotics the user has previously enjoyed.
The compound was developed through genetic manipulation of the venom-producing cells of scorpions. Its characteristic red color and typical aerosol delivery mechanism have resulted in its popular name.
A catalyzed compound, Red Mist only becomes active when in contact with certain types of metals. In medical use, these are pins or staples inserted into anatomical regions to limit the desired anesthetic effect. Clinical anesthesia is achievable even in cases of extreme blood loss.
Among recreational Red Mist users, studs and piercings employed as catalyzers are ubiquitous. Vinegar renders Red Mist inert and not identifiable as a controlled substance.
Trade names include Glazitraphane and Xanitanyl.
scRamjet: Supersonic Combustion Ramjet (a.k.a. “flying stovepipe”), a form of supersonic air-breathing engine and the aircraft employing them.
scrolls: Flexible, expandable filament screens that have replaced most tablets and portable monitors.
Stymphalian drones: A semiautonomous stealth unmanned combat air vehicle. Successor to the X-47B and the latest graduate of DARPA's Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program.
TYR Lens: A large desalination and electricity-generating station floating in the Gulf of Oman.
Along with the Great Wall of China, the Giza Pyramids, the ELON Transatlantic Hyperloop, and the wind-powered undertaking to thicken the Arctic ice cap, Project HODUR, the Lens is one of the largest engineering projects in human history. It is the first large-scale use of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Most of its sixty-square-kilometer (average visible above surface) area is composed of calcium carbonate and was manufactured by the MOFs in the same fashion as mollusks produce seashells.
The Lens is a large energy plant. A combination of direct and stored solar energy as well as algae-biomass-generated free electrons (through exploitation of the TYR quark effect) powers an extensive electrical grid.
Total generating capacity is classified, but it has been estimated to be in the terawatt range. This energy is also used to desalinate seawater from the Gulf of Oman. Drinking and irrigation water is pumped through aqueduct-style pipelines throughout the Central Asia region. Although the target of numerous terrorist attacks, it has never suffered significant damage.
US-SOCOM: United States Special Operations Command. Oversees various Special Operations Component Commands of the US Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force.
Wandering Desert:(Persian: بیابان سرگردان) An extremely arid plateau region in Khorasan. Its topography is shaped by persistent winds and a nearly endless supply of sand.
It is moving westward, encroaching on agricultural areas. Worldwide Help International reports “hundreds of villages have been submerged by windblown dust and sand. Dunes nearly fifteen meters (fifty feet) high block roads, forcing residents to establish new routes.” The region is sparsely populated by Baluchi and Pashtun nomads. It is also known as the Registan Desert ریگستان. (Reference: Advancing Deserts and Rising Seas Squeezing Civilization By Lester R. Brown)
Worldwide Help International: A very large private humanitarian institution.
Under various names, antecedents of the modern organization date back to temples dedicated to the healer god Asclepius; the scorpion goddess cult of Ta-Bitjet; healing hollows of !Xu, the sky god of the Saan people; and others. Its banner designs most often incorporate depictions of the Serpens constellation, which is a unity of three-star groupings: the Serpens Caput (Serpent Head) to the west, the Serpens Cauda (Serpent Tail) to the east, and the constellation of Ophiuchus, the “Serpent-Bearer,” in the middle. On WWHI banners, the Serpens motif is often repeated five times.
Sources and amounts of its annual budgets vary. Public records reveal a close relationship between WWHI and Ao Kazan Corp. of Japan, especially during the building of the TYR Lens and the establishment of the refugee safe zones (RSZs) in Southern Khorasan. Because of the scope of WWHI global operations and its noted ability to discourage hostile actions against its aid workers, it operates in areas deemed prohibitively dangerous by other NGOs.
The New Praetorians Series Continuity
Apocalypse Israel: The 96 Hour War
In 2029 the State of Israel will be destroyed A standalone prequel novel set in the New Praetorians world 2029.
Apocalypse Europe: The Pangea Protocol
One Killer, 500 Million Victims On November 1, 2031 one man will murder everyone in Europe.
A standalone prequel novel set in the New Praetorians world.
Apocalypse USA 2032 The Apocalypse series finally comes to America
My Summer Vacation,
by Sienna McKnight
(New Praetorians 0.5) A prequel novella.
FREE WHEN YOU JOIN THE MAILING LIST
TEN CHARACTER-DRIVEN ADVENTURES,
ONE GLOBAL STORY: Start date
(Khorasan time)
New Praetorians 1: Sienna McKnight March 19
New Praetorians 2: Shetani Zeru Bryan March 20
New Praetorians 3: Yama & Yami March 20
New Pra
etorians 4: Anis continuous
New Praetorians 5: Crush March 20
New Praetorians 6: Ran Oliphant continuous
New Praetorians 7: Khamseen continuous
New Praetorians 8: Dr. Golem & Mr. Genji March 20
New Praetorians 9: Heaven’s Scythe continuous
New Praetorians 10: Shadowbolt continuous
R.K. Syrus is a former journalist. He inhabits Europe and Asia and mostly comes out at night. Mostly.
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Edition: 1.0.1
This is a work of fiction, all rights reserved, including trademarks whether registered or not. New Praetorians® Young Praetorians™ Shadowbolt® and intertwined rose and scorpion symbol are trademarks of Yuan Kun Publishing Ltd. Images herein are copyright of the publisher, used with permission, covered by fair use, or in public domain, some maps courtesy of PAT freeware and Carol J. and public domain via Wikimedia Commons. The moral right of R.K. Syrus to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted under Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (UK) et al.
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